35G Saltwater Reef Journal

[kyle sicard]

I'm not gonna reduce the temp. Ich isn't able to reproduce at temps 85 degrees and higher, so they say. (i'm not arguing just voicing my thoughts and plans, I plan to use journal on next tank for a resource.) But basically your thinking its the dieing astera's stinking up the water? And also do you think the ich came with the damsels or the new crabs/snails/star? I was thinking the damsels and then the ich went into swim mode and reproduced and thus why it showed up later on.

I'm pretty sure it came with the damsels. That sounds correct.

You gotta do what you gotta do. I understand why you're raising the temp. It's certainly a method to use when dealing with it.

L

Temp is currently at 82.4 and now i'm gonna kick it up another notch or two. Trying to not shock them from instant water temp change, so I'm increasing over time. Salinity is at 1.028 I must have over estimated how much salt to add in, I removed 3-5% of the water and filling in with fresh water and that should put it at about 1.026 and ill decrease to 1.025 in the next hour or so.

Water tests:
Ammonia 0
Ph 8.0
alkalinity perfect
Nitrite 2-3 ppm (still cycling)
Nitrate 5-10ppm (water change caused decrease in nitrates it seems.

My nitrites spiked alrdy at about 4-5ppm a few days ago and everything lived so I know its not what's killing the added specimens. Also why didn't my nitrites reduce from the water change? I'll re test in about an hour and half to assure accuracy.

also when should I call it on the astera's? It's been a few years and I'm not quite sure when to pull the plug on them anymore. They haven't moved or come out of their shell since yesterday and a odor is starting from the tank. The 3 seem to be the only ones not doing well and I couldn't see anything other than them creating the smell. everything else is moving around.

 

[lljdma06]

Pick up the shell from out of the water. If it smells then it's dead and remove it. Living astraeas can handle being handled out of water for a few seconds.

L

 

[Xraymark]

Yeah that sucks. At least half the battle is the knowledge to fight it.

 

[kyle sicard]

Ya I've had my issues with ich since tangs are my fav fish and i tended to have every type of tang there was at one point (or so it seemed) the tangs always seem to be the bearer of ich. But basically I've had my run ins with ich and I know the steps on how to proceed. But I am sad I lost my snails. First loss of the tank due to ich. I'm gonna check smell of them now.

Salinity lowered to 1.026 like I thought. Gonna lower it a little bit more to 1.025. (good thing this happened without corals) temp is running at 83.6, going to increase it in about 30 mins or so. Will run a second water test in about an hour. Also I'm cooking up some more fresh water to get salinity to the 1.025 that I want it at.

Just checked the astera's and they surprisingly aren't releasing the strong odor. I'm starting to wonder if it's the star fish, yet he has moved place twice today and doesn't appear to be dieing. The snails could be in shock thus why they haven't come out. I added 2 table spoons of salt directly to tank earlier to let fish know there's some salt changes coming up. I didn't think that small of an amount could do that but maybe. There has been some significant changes since they were added, which includes: ich outbreak, cycling tank, 20% water change, large salinity and temperature changes. I don't believe the water quality could possibly be the reason due to the fact that I've had the cleaner shrimp 3 damsels and 6 crabs in there for about two weeks now and they lived healthily through worse quality at longer periods of time. Also if i'm not mistaken the shrimp would die before the snails would from water quality.

I will be checking the snails regularly and keeping my eye on everything in general. I'm gonna let the tank rest now and keep adjusting temps over time.

If i'm leaving something out for fighting this ich please inform me. I'm going off memory from years ago. Kinda seems like second hand nature tho =)

Any information or opinions are greatly appreciated.

The cleaner shrimp and the 3 astera's are confirmed losses. The cleaner shrimp was covered in ick and lost the fight. He was the only one I wanted to keep alive. Still keeping an eye on things everything else doesn't seem to be too unhealthy. I'm gonna keep my eye on the serpent star.

Tested water 7:00 pm est
Ph 8.1
Ammonia 0.25
nitrite 1.5 ppm
nitrate 10 ppm
temp 85.4 degrees
SG 1.0254

 

[kyle sicard]

It's been 4 days since I started the non-medication treatment.
I lost the serpent star, cleaner shrimp, and the snails. The crabs and damsels are still rocking along. The shrimp was due to ick he was covered in it. The others I believe to the radical changes of the tank since they were added.

But since then I've done 2 water changes and my ammonia is 0 and nitrite is extremely low 0-0.5 ppm. The ick is still noticeable on the damsels. I decided to avoid further infestations to invest in a quarantine tank. I took my old 10g tank that I had laying around and went to the LFS and bought live sand, 2 pieces of uncured rock, a 20g filter, and a powerhead for mater movement. I also took one of my older MH for lighting from the 300g tank. I set it up last night and currently letting it cycle. After about 3 weeks of cycling that tank I might transfer the damsels over to that tank (if I can catch them).

The serpent star decided to die behind all the rock work so I ended up just completely re aqua scaping the tank while I moved all the rock. I will post new pics of the Q tank and the new rock scape later tonight.

I plan to re stock my cleaner crew in about 3-5 days depending on when the ick subsides and when I return the tank parameter to normal (salinity and temp). I'm also going to leave the water changes alone since nothing is dieing in the tank so I can let the bacteria re populate.

 

[56jman]

Wow that stinks!!! I have also heard that low salinity helps about 1.019 or 1.020. After you treat this ich you might want to remove the sand and put it in your main tank and go bear-bottom in the Q. That way you can monitor eating by the poop and just better way to observe. Also take the rock out, just go w/ nothing in the tank. put some filter floss and LR rubble or ceramic rings in the filter for filtration.

Hope this helps

 

[kyle sicard]

I heard the opposite that higher salinity helps, can anyone clear that up? And I want the live rock and sand in there so I can grow foods/corals if I choose to. Will post pics later.

 

[56jman]

Good, idea for now. If you want a true quarentine get another tank.

 

[kyle sicard]

The Q tank and the new rock layout. Bare with me on the algae, I have no cleaner crew other then a few red legged crabs. That will soon be fixed when I feel it's okay to drop temp and add in the clean up crew. For now I will have to wait the ich out.

side shot

 

[56jman]

Good, keep it up

 

[SaltNoob]

OH jeez. This is terrible.

-Tyler

 

[crazyforcordoras]

That stinks, i hate ich.

 

[kyle sicard]

Did a water test and ammonia,nitrites, and nitrates are at 0. ph is at 8.2. salinity 1.025. The water quaility is perfect and the ich has become a bit less noticable on the damsels. Only a few more days i'd estimate till the tank is in the clear.

 

[lljdma06]

Dude, no. Just because the spots go away doesn't mean that ich is done. When I treated my clownfish for ich in my quarantine, he was treated for 2 weeks, then stayed another 3 weeks in quarantine even though he was fine.

L

 

[ainsy]

There is a fair bit of discussion about how long before the ich lifecycle is broken but as LLJ says it is much longer than you think!

Several weeks not several days.